Catholic affiliation in Spain continues its decline year after year, according to data collected from the monthly surveys conducted by the official Centre for Sociological Research (CIS).

In the last five years, the percentage of people who identify themselves as Catholics (practising and non-practising) has fallen by more than 12 percentage points.

While fewer and fewer people identify with the Roman Catholic faith, those who identify themselves as atheists, agnostics or indifferent to religion have increased by almost 14 points in the same period.

According to this official research centre, practising Catholics are 17.8%, non-practising Catholics are 36.6%, while believers in another religion represent 3.2% of the population.

Rise of the indifferent and non-believers

In 2020, the CIS added the category “indifferent, non-believer”, differentiating it from “agnostic (does not deny the existence of God but does not rule it out either)” and “atheist (denies the existence of God)”.

Thus, in July 2024, 12.7% identify themselves as “indifferent, non-believers”, 16.1% as “atheists” and 12.1% as “agnostics”. Together, the three groups represent over 40% of the Spanish population.

Evangelicals, between 1% and 2%?

As for religious minorities, the CIS does not ask specifically about any religion other than Catholicism in its monthly barometers.

This makes it difficult to identify the religion of 3.2% of the population, the highest figure in the five-year period.

The latest official data on religious beliefs, collected by the Observatory of Religious Pluralism in Spain (another state-owned entity), gave higher figures for religious minorities. The latest study is from 2018. Then, 2% of Protestants, 1.5% of Muslims, and 1.1% of Orthodox Christians were identified.

8 out of 10 do not practice any religion

Attendance at religious liturgies has also dropped significantly, as a recent report by PR Agency, concluded that 80.4% of people in Spain are not practising any religion.